LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Tuesday

Jul 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

Ashland has a poster kiosk — what a great thing, a place to post stuff about events happenings or whatever. Why doesn't Medford have one, or even several? Oh, that's right, it's Medford. — V. Handel, Medford

Ashland has a poster kiosk — what a great thing, a place to post stuff about events happenings or whatever. Why doesn't Medford have one, or even several? Oh, that's right, it's Medford. — V. Handel, Medford

Interesting political cartoon by Springer on Sunday. Basically it's BS. In 2013 there were 159 vehicle deaths. There were 413 gun-related deaths of which 83 percent were suicides. Of these, 55 were murder. There were also 59 physician-assisted suicides. Couldn't find how many murders were by knife, hammer, baseball bat, strangulation, bridge jumps, etc., or how many deaths were law enforcement-related. Parse the facts the way you want, I guess. — Mel Beaty, Medford

Kudos for Sunday's editorial regarding the Library District board. As a library supporter, I was dismayed to learn the Medford branch will be open only 26 hours a week while Ashland will enjoy 40 hours a week with extended hours at Talent and White City branches. Medford serves Rogue Community College and much more. I cannot help but question the motives of the board. All taxpayers are entitled to fair distribution of funds. — Margaret Bradburn, Eagle Point

Seems like the new library board has, in the wake of some bland reassurances, decided to go "in for a penny, in for a pound" and soak homeowners the maximum they are allowed under the newly passed levy.

Heck, they are pikers compared with the Jacksonville City Council. These voted themselves a $1 million loan to fix up the 1883 city hall to be used as offices for this darling little town.

In both these cases it seems that the persons in whom the voters placed their trust have rewarded them with gambits of lavish self-interest. Since this sort of chicanery is almost unknown from politicians, I felt it worth signaling to the public. — Hubert Smith, Jacksonville

I can't say I wasn't expecting the July 18 headline regarding the library bond issue, but it still hits hard. What this means to me is that from the time I voted for a 40-cent tax to its actual implementation, my property tax assessment jumped to the maximum 60 cents per thousand, making my taxes go from $62 per year to $93! How's that for deceit?

I dare say that what the Library Board has accomplished is to put the kiss of death on any and every future bond issue in Jackson County. Stephen King was wrong when he said you could always trust a librarian! — Sheila Whitesitt, Medford

We would totally support Sal Esquivel's effort to fund a downsized Vietnam Memorial in Veteran's Park, except we have an even better idea.

Instead of just a wall, we have a dream that we could build a Veteran's Memorial Indoor Community Pool. This would be a large Olympic-sized covered pool, and would be an economic boon to the region just as the baseball fields have been.

But it would have a special benefit to our veterans. It would be free to any veteran and accompanying family members — a husband, wife, child or grandchild they may have. Only non-veteran swimmers would pay an extra small amount.

The pool would have at least four walls to display the 58,000 names and the pool would give the memorial a lot more exposure to the general public than another memorial at Veteran's Park.

A large corporation or a generous civic-minded individual should be willing to help get the ball rolling.

We think the veterans, their families and certainly the public will like this proposal better. Three cheers for Sal Esquivel's idea, but four cheers for this one. — Dan and Mary Heath, Medford